What Is Yin Yoga? A Guide to the Slow Practice

Yin yoga is a slow practice done mostly on the floor. Each pose is held for several minutes. Breath and awareness guide the class. Many people add it to a week of running or cycling or lifting. It also suits the day after Vinyasa or a heated class.

What is yin yoga?

You move into a pose and stay there for a few minutes. The stretch builds slowly. You go only as far as feels comfortable that day. Teachers describe yin as a counterbalance to dynamic exercise and yoga. Deeper stretches come with mindfulness, breathing and meditation. For anyone looking for yin yoga in London the slower pace makes a change from city life.

If you’re new to yoga our beginner’s guide to yoga covers what to wear and what happens in a first class.

The philosophy of yin

Yin and yang describe complementary qualities such as stillness and movement or softness and effort. Many modern yoga classes lean towards yang. You flow and strengthen and build heat. Yin goes the other way. You stay and observe as the practice unfolds gradually. From the outside it can look like nothing is happening. By minute three your mind usually has plenty to say. Staying still is surprisingly hard and that’s where the attention part of the practice comes from.

Connective tissue and muscles

A flowing class works your muscles by contracting them again and again. Yin hands that job to the connective tissue around them, meaning fascia, tendons and ligaments. They take gentle and sustained stress. The feeling is quite different from a dynamic class. Gentle is the important word. Yin only works inside a range your body is happy with. Props and cushions and small adjustments are used freely for that reason. They help a position suit your body on the day.

How long are yin poses held?

Poses are commonly held for several minutes. The exact time depends on the teacher and the pose and the student. A class might include only a handful of postures with three or four or even five minutes in each. The long hold gives you time to notice subtle sensations. Your mind often quietens with no next movement to plan. The rhythm can take some getting used to if you’re new. Adjusting a pose or using a prop or coming out early are all fine.

Many people come to yoga for stress and mood and our guide to yoga and mental health looks at what the research says.

Yin vs restorative yoga

From across a room the two look alike. Both are slow and both often use props. Yin looks for a gentle and sustained sensation. Restorative puts support and comfort first so the body can rest completely. Neither is better. They feel different. If you’re looking at restorative yoga in London read the class description closely. It tells you which one you’re booking.

Yin vs Vinyasa

Movement is the quickest way to separate yin yoga vs Vinyasa. Vinyasa ties breath to flowing sequences and builds heat and energy as it goes, while yin settles into a pose and stays there. They work nicely as a pair. A Vinyasa class can leave you buzzing and a yin class gives you somewhere to come down afterwards. That’s one reason experienced teachers tend to see different yoga styles as partners.

Benefits of yin yoga

People practise yin for different reasons. Common ones are more time for mindfulness and conscious breathing, a gentle way to work on flexibility and mobility, and an hour away from screens and noise. It balances harder training. The long holds can make you more aware of physical sensations and tension. Sessions change from day to day. One week feels deeply peaceful. The next feels restless and uncomfortable. Both count as practice.

Yin yoga at 3Tribes

We run Yin Yoga in Crouch End in Studio 1 where the teacher talks you through deeper stretches and mindfulness and meditation and breathing techniques to quieten the mind and release stress. The class isn’t hot even though it sits alongside our heated classes in that studio. You can check times on the Crouch End schedule. A hoodie or cardigan is worth packing since you cool down quickly lying still.